Palm Springs 2010 - Marriott Shadow Ridge Enclave Resort

Welcome to my next vacation installment. After a hectic, action-packed vacation like New York/Boston, we needed some R&R. Palm Springs, CA - hot, wet, and fun. We were greeted by so much greenery and vibrant colored flowers. I really did not expect the dessert to hold such beauty. To ease into the next set of vacation reviews, I'm going to start lightly with some scenic shots of Palm Springs because it was too beautiful not to share.

Palm Springs 2014 - Golfing - Catalan Restaurant - Elmer's Restaurant - Anaheim Packing House

Now back to my personal eating adventures, not sponsored or promoted by anyone. Phil and I had a chance to return to our favorite domestic vacation spot of all times, Palm Springs, which has been covered on the blog thoroughly last time. I like it for short relaxing getaways because Palm Springs is littered with beautiful resorts. We can keep ourselves entertained with resort activities.

But first, let's fly into Long Beach because it's cheaper than flying into Palm Springs. When we're here, we must always stop by Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles for their fluffy waffles and crispy chicken with a side of collared greens. Always a good time at Roscoe's!

We got a free upgrade to a rental Jeep and it was off towards the desert we go.

Our first meal was at Catalan Restaurant, a tapas bar that Phil picked out.

I thought this might come with more than 2 tentacles and a buttload of spicy peppers. I was wrong. The octopus was tasty albeit sparse. In the background is a huge portion of roasted bone marrow and not picture in that same order is a container of chicken liver pate and jam.

Phil liked this burger enough. Not one to rave about but it does the job.

The scallops themselves were good and the shaved endive too. I was not crazy about the butternut squash puree.

The next day, in 100 degree weather under no shade, we did what we came to Palm Springs to do. Golf! $25 gets you a day pass to the driving range. You can come back again anytime and as many times that day as you want. We went once in the morning, took a break for lunch and to rest from the sun by going swimming. Then came back again in the afternoon. Capped off the day with a night time swim.

Forearms glistening with sweat.

Dinner that night was delicious seafood a restaurant, Fisherman's Landing, within the beautiful JW Marriott resort we almost stayed at. We chose not to stay here because they didn't have a water slide in their pool. Priorities.

Jumbo shrimp cocktail hit the spot for my seafood craving.

Clams in a delicious tomato sauce paired with extra cheesy garlic bread for dipping.

Phil wasn't so much a fan of the Hawaiin plate which seemed anything but Hawaiin. Salmon and some other fish, cooked pretty dryly. Shrimp on top with a very generic teriyaki sauce. Side of veggies and potato wedges.

At night we went for a swim to digest our food and had the pool all to ourselves.

This is a 30 year old husband, home owner, and working professional.

It rained heavily the next day as we ventured out to try this thing I found on Yelp at Elmer's Restaurant. It's a Dutch pancake which is the size of a large frying pan. iPhone shown for comparison. It turned out to be very bland and not worth the hype. 

On Monday we headed back to Long Beach for our flight but not before stopping by a few recommended eats in Anaheim. This is the Anaheim Packing House. It's much like our San Pedro Square Market with two floors and many more eateries. Some of the food is still generic though.

This chicken karaage from Orange Tei tastes really good. Way better than it looks. I don't know why it's white and crusty and looks like an STD, but it's tasty with the aioli sauce on the side.

I ordered and paid for a half portion of grilled cheese from Black Sheep GCB. Looks like a whole to me and I don't mind. The sandwich was hot and fresh and every bit as comforting as comfort food should be. The juice on the top left though, no good. Too sour.

We also had to try the garlic fries and the jalapeno slaw at the popular stand, The Kroft. Neither of which are good.

Finally back upstairs so I could buy an espresso shop from Cafecito Organico, and pour it onto a scoop of vanilla ice cream from Han's Homemade Ice Cream to make my fave affogato. Phil got an ice cream sandwich that beats Cream by miles. Everything was good.

Back home we go!

Palm Springs 2010 - Village Fest - Maracas

Flower Power returns!

A quick pose by the pool at night before we headed out to the Palm Springs Village Fest, a weekly Thursday night festival downtown. That pool was just as beautiful at night as it was during the day.

hmm what could I possibly be doing?

Getting a henna tattoo! yay! It's a lotus blossom. Too bad the tattoo faded within 2 days. I want my money back.

We stopped to watch a street artist painting using spray paint and various paper tools. You can also find these types of artists on the strip in Vegas. I also bought a snow cone which was a bad idea because snow cones are a notorious rip off of money for ice and syrup. But the little kid in me had to be satisfied.

Since we had lounged by the pool for far too long that day, we did not feel hungry until 9 or 10 that night. By then, dinner options were limited and the festival was closing down. So we chose Maracas, one of the only restaurants open at the time. We ended up being the last customers there.

My Thursday dinner started as all dinners should start, with a frozen blended mango margarita. This was refreshing, smooth, fruity, and strong. Yes, it tasted like fruit but packed the punch of maybe 2 tequila shots. Well worth the money. So I'm realizing I only had one earring on because I had to take the other off for my henna tattoo. oops! Fashion faux pas or trend setting?

I ordered the "Taco Truck Soft Tacos" which were actually appetizers but they were filling enough. The trio contained fish, chicken, and carne asada, although carnitas was also an option. For me, nothing has yet to beat the Tres Gringos taco truck in San Jose. The fish taco was good but everything else was forgettable and the carne asada was not tender. I remember having to dip alot of sauce with each bite.

Philipe ordered the carnitas plate which I have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't too thrilled about. It was just average, if anything a little dry.
 

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

This festival in particular was a bit mundane. Nothing you can't find at the usual town get together or even at a farmer's market. I would have enjoyed watching some dancing or singing performances. I think there were singers but nothing too exciting. Having the festival to attend was still better than doing nothing. This is the end of our Palm Springs leg of the trip. It was short but relaxing. The scenery was lovely, the pools were fun, the weather was sweltering, and the food was just decent. I do miss Palm Springs alot and hope to return here often in the future.

Village Fest on Yelp

Maracas on Yelp

 WE'LL BE BACK!

Palm Springs 2010 - Pacifica Restaurant

Flower power

 Rental Solara power!!!


I should start out by warning people that Palm Springs food is not like New York food at all. The two shall not be compared.

Le Concierge gave us a map of local eateries and happy hours. We randomly picked Pacifica because we always love seafood. And ooh there's a vodka bar but we didn't make use of it because this was a relaxing trip and not a get plastered trip.

Seared Ahi Tuna in a soy and wakame salad with pickled ginger mixture. Yum yum! This dish was really good but I do feel that I've had fresher tuna elsewhere. Pacifica boasts the freshest seafood in Palm Desert and if this is the freshest then it doesn't say much for Palm Desert seafood. Nonetheless, good seasoning and good dish.

Ceviche with scallions(?). This was also quite delicious. Portions were larger than most ceviche I've been served in the past so kudos to bangs for bucks.

mmm baked shrimp scampi. This is probably the best, most unique shrimp scampi I've ever had. As you can see, it is not just pasta on a plate. Garlic butter white wine sauce, good! Crispy jumbo shrimp, good! Garlic bread, meh not so much.

Chubby in the face, holding my buttery shrimp scampi.

We took full advantage of our rental Solara, putting the "top down" in top down, chrome spinnin...

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

I will have to admit that Palm Springs/Desert food will be neither as varied nor as satisfying as New York food. It has been difficult finding things to write about this trip since it was mostly for relaxation and we did a whole bunch of nothing, which I actually really miss now because it's not everyday that you can just do nothing. Some of us have blog entries to write...oh life is so hard!

Pacifica on Yelp

My Fitness Journey - Losing 7lbs and Getting Lean

Earlier this year, I conducted a poll asking readers what kind of entries they would like to see in the future. A whopping 10 voters said they would like to see more food and drink reviews. I've been giving the readers what they want when I discovered the "stats" tab of my blogger account where blogger tracks which entries received the most views. Not surprisingly enough, some of the entries with the most views are ones of me in a swimsuit, there have only been 2 so far.

1. Sun Diego
2. Random Summer Happenings

This makes 3.

THE FIT FOODIE:

I've discussed how I keep my wallet fat with all this eating, and now I will discuss how I try and keep my body not-fat with all this eating. Be prepared to see some unflattering pictures.

Florida, 2008. Have you heard of the term "high school skinny"? Well, I was actually high school chubby and college skinny. But after graduating college, my lifestyle was just work and drinking, resulting in the picture above. I didn't realize how "round" I had become until these pictures from our 2008 vacation came out.

Palm Springs, May 2010. Since 2008, I had tried but only half heartedly to change my lifestyle and lose some weight. I improved but just slightly. These photos don't show the whole picture because I got a little bigger after the Florida vacation and then started getting a little smaller before this picture. This was right after our New York trip where I ate my body weight in food and before I had begun my summer workout regimen. At this point, I was doing a little bit of Insanity, Taebo, power walking videos, and some crunches and squats daily.

Palm Springs, May 2010. This was taken the day after the previous picture. What a difference having an empty stomach makes. I'm also learning that these are not the most flattering swimsuit styles for me as it makes my top look even smaller and my entire body more pear shaped. I only bought so many because the pattern doesn't show tan lines.

 Wilder Ranch State Beach, June 2010. This was about 1 month into my Insanity routine. I would do Insanity workouts about 5 days a week. On the other days, I would try swimming or playing tennis with friends.

Huntington Beach, late July 2010. I was in full Insanity mode the the whole month of July and was just starting to get bored of it, substituting some days with swimming, tennis, or jogging. This different swimsuit pattern helps alot. Take note ladies, triangular tops. The tan and the pose helps too. Arm out, chest out, stomach in, bend one leg.

Since this photo, I've been swimming everyday and haven't touched Insanity at all. Insanity can be high impact on people with bad knees such as myself. It can also get boring once you've gone through the entire video series twice. I wanted to do P90X but the thought of staying indoors another month doing video workouts was a bit depressing.

Overall, in the past 3 months, I've lost about 7 lbs. I post this now because fall/winter is coming and I'll resume eating and getting "round". Thanks to Jimbo for getting me the Insanity videos.

TIPS:

• Cut out or moderate alcohol intake. It really is just empty calories.
• Eat smaller portions but more frequently. I try to eat about 4 small meals a day.
• Eat dinner at least 3 hours before you sleep.
• Get workout buddies.
• Stick to a workout schedule so you won't be tempted to skip.
• Exercise. In any way, shape, or form, just exercise. You can't healthily lose weight by cheating this step. I don't believe in diet pills or fad diets. You really just have to put in the work. I made it a goal to do at least 1 hour a day of something active (tennis, jogging, swimming, Insanity or other workout videos, hiking, tubing).
• And of course, suck in and smile!